


A Story About Us

by Current521



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Background tom/becky, F/M, Family Issues, Found Family, Tags to be added, background deb/alice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 15,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24554863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Current521/pseuds/Current521
Summary: Ethan moves to a small town. At first it sucks; then it's worth it.
Relationships: Lex Foster/Ethan Green
Comments: 46
Kudos: 57





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know what's gonna happen, but uhh, have fun?  
> Updates every other day

Ethan had stopped listening to the principal about five minutes ago. He knew how high school worked, just because he was in Nowhere, Michigan didn’t mean it worked differently than the city.

He was given a class schedule and led to the door. “Oh, one more thing, Mr. Green,” the principal said.   
“Yeah?” He stopped and looked.

“We’re assigning you a peer mentor. One of the other kids here, whose schedule matches yours, to help you find your way around. Her name is Alexandra Foster, she’s waiting outside.” The principal pushed open the door and stepped out.

A girl was standing there, around his age, with brown hair and an oversized hoodie. She looked at him. “So. You’re the new kid, huh?”

“Yeah. Ethan.” He stuck out a hand.

“I’m Lex.” She shook his hand. “Come on, you’re making me late for chem.” She turned and started walking down the hall.

“So.” Ethan looked over at her. “What kind of place is this?”   
Lex shrugged. “It’s a high school. What the fuck do you expect?”

Ethan sighed, and turned his wrist to show her his tattoo; the bi pride flag. “Is it the kind of place where this is gonna be a problem?”

Lex scoffed. “What, the tattoo or that you’re bi.” Then she shrugged. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t go shouting about it, but Deb and Alice can get away with kissing in the hallways.” She stopped in front of a door. “Come on. We’re late, so be prepared for embarrassment.”

They had all their morning classes together, which Ethan was grateful for; Lex seemed cool, and being the new kid wasn’t fun.

They also went to lunch together. “Come on, you can sit with us if you wanna.” She headed to a table in the back. “Unless you need to buy lunch?”   
“Nah.” He headed with her; he had a granola bar in his bag, it would have to be good enough, lord knew he didn’t have any money.

There were already four people at the table. “These are my friends.” Lex pointed around. “Alice, Deb, Danny, and Gwen.” She pointed at each in turn; Alice was wearing a pale pink sweater, and had dark hair, Deb was almost ginger and wearing overalls, Danny was wearing a tie-dye shirt with a logo on it that Ethan didn’t recognise, and Gwen was wearing a denim jacket and a grey hoodie.

Ethan nodded at each of them. “I’m Ethan. Just moved here.” He grabbed a seat and pulled the granola bar out of his bag.

“Nice to meet you.” Danny smiled, then leaned in. “Hey, I have a question. Come here.”   
“Yeah?” Ethan leaned in a bit as well, fully prepared for Danny to knock his head into the table.

He didn’t. “Do you uhh, do you smoke?”

“Sometimes.” Ethan looked both ways. “You don’t just mean cigs, do you?”   
Danny laughed. “Nah, of course not.” He looked at Lex. “I like this kid.”   
“Yeah, me too.” Lex smiled at him. “Hey uhh, we usually go hang out in Lakeside after class on Wednesdays, you wanna come?”

“Sure.” Ethan smiled back at her. “Wait, what’s Lakeside? Like literally the side of the lake?”

The others laughed. “No.” Gwen rolled her eyes at him. “It’s a mall.  _ The _ mall, actually.”

“Ah.” That did make more sense. “Sure, sounds fun.”

They did go to the mall. Not a lot was there, but they had a good time, and Ethan learned some more about the people he was hanging out with. Danny smoked a joint on the walk there, and although he was a nice guy, Ethan mentally dismissed him; while he could enjoy a good joint sometimes — and did take a hit when Danny offered — it seemed that this guy’s entire personality could be summed up in weed and tie-dye shirts. Alice refused a hit of the joint — Deb, Lex, and Gwen had all smoked a bit — and generally seemed more soft-spoken than the rest of the group; Lex whispered to him that she’d sort of been brought in when she and Deb had started dating. Deb, for her part, was a founding member of the smoke club and definitely supported it. They — as Ethan found out he could also call them — seemed defensive of Alice and angry at Danny’s attempts to make her smoke. He didn’t blame her. Gwen was sweet, didn’t say much, but giggled quite a bit. She had stars in her eyes when looking at Danny, and Ethan didn’t entirely blame her; he was a good looking guy, and clearly nice to her.

And then there was Lex. She didn’t smile as much as the others, but she took her role as peer mentor or whatever the fuck the principal had called it seriously, and kept him updated either via whisper or text with things that she assumed he’d be confused about. It was nice of her, and she did smile at him on occasion, when he asked stupid questions anyway.

It was a nice afternoon, but Ethan skipped out earlier than the others. He had a good time, nonetheless.


	2. Chapter 2

The nice afternoon ended as soon as he stepped through the door at home.

“Where have you been?” His mother had been waiting in the entranceway.

Ethan tossed his bag on the floor and shouted. “Out. You’re the one who said I should make friends.”

“You didn’t tell me.”   
“You’re not off ‘til 5, it’s 4.30.” Ethan walked past her to the kitchen. “I didn’t think you’d be home to worry.” He opened the fridge, grabbed a juice box, and went towards his room. Then he stopped. “Why are you home, anyway?”

His mother had followed him. “I had some stuff to do. Don’t you walk away from me, Ethan.”

He turned to look at her. “Honestly, Audrey, I don’t care.” He went to his room.

“I want you to call me mom.”   
“That’s great, Audrey.” Ethan shut the door.

He’d gotten a text from Lex.  _ hey, i forgot to ask, where are you from anyway? _

He wrote  _ the city _ and got to unpacking and organising his room; they’d only lived there for two days, and while most of the boxes and suitcases were gone, it was still largely a mess.

His phone dinged.  _ what city? clyvesdale? _

_ what the fuck is clyvesdale? _ He smiled a little. He liked Lex a lot, she was exactly the kind of person he wanted to be friends with.

_ guess not. hey, mom asked me to invite you around for dinner one day, she likes to meet my friends. _ Lex answered quickly, before he’d even put the phone down.

_ sounds good. _ He looked at for a few moments; Audrey would hate it, and so would his father. All the more reason to go.  _ when would it be? _

_ don’t know, one of these days. _ A few seconds later, another text ticked in.  _ i should warn you, my mother is terrible. _

_ so’s mine, it’s alright. _ Ethan smiled; they had that in common, at least.

There was a knock on his door, and his father opened without waiting for a reply. “Ethan.”

“Walter.”

Walter left and closed the door behind him, which was a relief to Ethan. No yelling or useless orders today.

He managed to hide out in his room for the rest of the day, which was a success.

The next couple days ran much as his first at HF High; he stuck with Lex during the day, with the smoke club during lunch, and went with them to Lakeside after school. He didn’t see them at all over the weekend, but Lex and Deb both kept him company on text.

Monday morning was shop class. Lex met him in the parking lot. “Hey, you have a car?”   
“Yeah.” Ethan locked it. “It’s a wreck, but it can drive.”

“Nice. You think you can maybe pick me and Hannah up sometimes? We have to walk, and it’s more than a mile.” She smiled. “Come on, Mr. Houston doesn’t like us being late.” She led the way into the school.

“Shouldn’t be a problem.” Ethan followed her. “Just out of curiosity, who’s Hannah?”   
“Oh, she’s my sister, she’s in middle school.” Lex walked them to the shop. “You’ll meet her if you come over.”   
“I’d love to.”

Lex pushed open the door to the shop. “Hey Mr. Houston. This is Ethan, he just transferred here, I’m helping him out.”   
“Hi Ethan.” Mr. Houston was in his 30’s, and with a red flannel and a kind smile, he looked pretty much exactly like Ethan had expected a shop teacher to look. “Lex will show you the ropes, she’s one of my best students.”

Lex rolled her eyes at that, but she also smiled. Then she pointed at a wall where a few ropes were coiled on a peg. “Those are the ropes.”

Ethan rolled her eyes at her. “Very funny.” He looked at Mr. Houston. “Thanks a lot.” It was the chillest welcome he’d gotten since coming to Hatchetfield, and he appreciated it.

They had a free period after shop, so Lex made him drive them to a nearby park to hang out and eat lunch.

“You know,” she said once they were in the car. “It’s kinda nice to spend some time with just you. I love the smoke club, I do, but they can be a lot sometimes.”   
“I get that.” Ethan pulled out. “Which way?”

“Left.” She pointed. “Sorry for complaining by the way, you barely know these guys, I probably shouldn’t give you a bad impression.”   
“Who cares.” Ethan shrugged. “I like Deb so far, she’s been nice, but I haven’t talked much to the others.”   
“Deb is great. So is Alice, she just doesn’t fit in much with the group. And Danny doesn’t like her because she doesn’t smoke, as though the smoke club is even an official thing.” She scoffed. “Oh, take another left up here, then we’re there.”

“What about Gwen?” Ethan parked the car and killed the engine, but he remained seated. “I think she’s said three things to me that weren’t  _ hello _ .”   
“Yeah, that sounds like her.” Lex didn’t make a move to get out of the car. “She doesn’t talk much, but she’s nice enough. I mostly talk to Deb, though.”

“Yeah, me too. Well, I mostly talk to you.” Ethan looked over and smiled. So maybe Lex was hot and he was considering asking her out. Sue him.

She smiled back at him. “Yeah. This past week has mostly been you.” She looked at him for a bit. “Do you mind if I smoke in the car? It’s kinda cold, this was just the best place to go for a break.”   
“Go ahead, just don’t hotbox it.” He nodded. “I don’t blame you.”   
“Just a cigarette.” Lex cranked open the window a little bit and lit a cigarette. Ethan followed her example. “I only smoke pot with Danny.”

“That’s fair.” He didn’t really know what else to say, so he took a drag of the cigarette and hoped that Lex would say something.

She did. “You know, I stand by the dinner invitation. Any day, mom doesn’t care.”

“Is it for your mother’s sake or yours?” He raised an eyebrow, still smiling.

She playfully hit his arm and laughed. “It’s for mom, she doesn’t like me hanging out with people she doesn’t know. And she doesn’t like me bringing over new friends unless it’s to meet her. She’s crazy.”

“She’s not the only one.” Ethan took another drag of his cigarette. “What about your dad?”

“He left.” Lex shrugged. “Mom dropped Hannah, when she was a baby. Nothing happened, but Hannah’s, well, she’s special. Dad blamed mom for it, and she blamed him for not helping, and well. He left.” She took a drag of her cigarette. “Sorry, that’s heavy.”

“Don’t worry about it, I get you.” He considered reaching out to rub her shoulder or something, but although she’d hugged him in the morning, it didn’t feel right. “I can probably come by tonight. Audrey won’t like it, but it’s better that she doesn’t have time to be mad about it.”   
“That’s fair, I’d love that.” Lex smiled. “Who’s Audrey?”   
“My mother. I don’t like calling her mom, mostly because she asks me to.” He laughed. “My parents are just Audrey and Walter to me, they haven’t really deserved anything else.”   
“Huh.” Lex smiled. “I don’t think mom deserves it either, but I refuse to write Ashlee the way she spells it.” She laughed.

“That’s fair.” Ethan laughed too, then reached out a hand. “To shitty parents.”   
Lex took it, not in a handshake, but just in general. “To shitty parents.”

She didn’t let go of his hand, and they sat in his car, holding hands and talking, until it was time to return to school and their English class.


	3. Chapter 3

Ethan texted Audrey after school to let her know that he wasn’t coming home until late. Then he went with the smoke club to Lakeside — stuffing all of them in his car wasn’t possible, but Gwen was small and could curl up in the trunk — and hung out. He was smart enough to not let Danny smoke in his car, and also skipped out himself, that day; so did Lex, he noticed.

Lex made him pick up her sister, Hannah, on their way back to Lex’s place. She was eleven, but had special education in the afternoon. Ethan smiled at her and said hi, and she smiled back, but didn’t really say anything else.

The girls lived with their mother in a small trailer park on the outskirts of town. Their trailer was one of the bigger ones — two bedrooms, not one, Hannah told him — but it was still tiny compared to, say, Ethan’s parents’ apartment in town, or their apartment back in the city. Their mother was waiting at the door.

“Hi girls. And you must be Ethan?” She was wearing a bathrobe and slippers and smoking what was quite clearly a joint. It was almost jarring. “I’m Ashlee.” She stuck out a hand.

“Hi, yeah.” Ethan shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. Thanks for inviting me over.”

“Oh, of course. Come in, come in.” She turned and headed inside.

Lex grabbed Ethan’s hand, and gestured for Hannah to go inside. “Relevant information: She hates you. She’s not gonna say that, but try not to say anything.” Lex rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, you won’t meet her again, but… She’s like this. I’m sorry.”   
“That’s fine.” Ethan shrugged. “Anything for new friends.” He smiled and winked, which made Lex knock her shoulder against his.

“Come on, Rob Smith, let’s go suffer.” She let go of his hand and headed towards the trailer, Ethan following.

All things considered, it wasn’t terrible. They ate dinner almost immediately, then Lex pulled Ethan to hers and Hannah’s room, and they stayed there for an hour, listening to music and talking softly.

Time came to leave, and Lex walked Ethan to the car. “I had a good time tonight.” He lit a cigarette and leaned against the car; Lex joined him, lighting one for herself. “Did you want me to pick up you and Hannah tomorrow?”

“If you want to.” She smiled. “That would be nice.”

“Yeah, of course.” He smiled back. “By the way, do you wanna go out sometime?”

“Like on a date?” She looked at him.

“Yeah, on a date.”

Lex shrugged. “Sure. Sounds good.” She smirked. “Was that your hope all along?”   
“Not all along.” He reached for her hand. “Mostly just since this morning.”   
She took his hand. “Yeah, well, good luck, Rob Smith.” She killed her cigarette. “See you tomorrow.” She kissed his cheek and walked off before he could say anything else.”   
“See you.” Ethan looked after her, then killed his own cigarette, and drove home.

He picked up Lex and Hannah every day for the rest of the week. He and Lex held hands in the car, and she kissed him on the cheek when they said goodbye sometimes, but nothing else happened.

He texted her Saturday morning.  _ so that date? _

She replied within seconds.  _ what are you thinking? the answer’s still yes. _

_ coffee at beanie’s? today? _ At least she was still in. That was a plus.

_ sounds good. pick me up at 3? _

_ you got a date! _

Okay, time to get ready. He wasn’t gonna dress up exceptionally for her, that seemed like a lot, but a clean flannel and a bit of cologne wouldn’t hurt. Chapstick. He hadn’t been on a proper date, his ex-boyfriend Marco hadn’t been the type, so he wasn’t sure what to expect, but he was sure he was gonna have fun. It was Lex.

He pulled up at the trailer park a few minutes past three. Audrey had tried to stop him from going, but he’d brushed her off; Walter hadn’t gotten involved, so it was easy enough.

Lex was already waiting. “Hey babe.” She smiled. “Ready to go?”   
“Ready to go.” He went to give her a hug; she kissed his cheek, and he kissed her forehead. “Come on.” He opened the car door for her.

She smiled and shook her head at him, but got in. She did also hold his hand while he drove, so it was an overall success.

They got to Beanie’s and ordered coffee. Ethan paid for both of them; he didn’t really have that kind of money, but neither did Lex, and it was tradition. He’d make it up somehow, skipping out on cigarettes or whatever.

They grabbed a table. Ethan had no idea what to say; it normally wasn’t a problem to talk to Lex, but this was a real date, and he suddenly got self-conscious.

Lex smiled at him. “Cat got your tongue, Rob Smith?”   
That got him laughing. “I don’t even listen to The Cure that much. I don’t look like Rob Smith?”

“You don’t, but it’s funny.” She shook her head. “What do you listen to then?”

He shrugged. “A lot of random shit. Green Day, The Dead Milkmen, Hawthorne Heights… Whatever.”   
“Hawthorne Heights?” She raised an eyebrow. “Alright emo kid.” He was about to protest, but she spoke faster. “Not that I blame you, I like them too, it’s just funny.”   
“Sure it is, babe.” He rolled his eyes at her, but he couldn’t quite keep from smiling. “And I suppose it’s also funny that you like them?”

“Oh, absolutely.” She smiled. “But like, not nearly as funny. I’m not insistently wearing a leather jacket indoors.”   
“I’m not  _ insistently _ wearing it.” Ethan took his jacket off; if she wanted it that way.

She laughed at him, but then she got up, walked over to his side of the table, and leaned down to kiss him, so he wasn’t complaining. She straightened up quickly and smiled. “Sure you’re not, Rob Smith.”   
He rolled his eyes at her. Lex was so easy to get along with, and he was happy she’d kissed him. “Come on, babe, work with me here.”   
“I’m kissing you, that’s working with you.” She leaned down to kiss him again. “You done with your coffee? Let’s go do something.”

The “something” ended up being making out in the backseat of Ethan’s car, after driving to the park again. He didn’t really mind; it was a good time, and he wasn’t about to complain about anything involving Lex. Especially not Lex kissing him, between laughs and a bit of smalltalk.


	4. Chapter 4

Ethan came home late; he and Lex ended up buying some takeout and sitting in his car and eating and talking some more.

Audrey and Walter were waiting for him in the living room. “Ethan. Sit down,” Walter said.

He did. He knew his hair was a mess and that his lips were probably still swollen, but he ignored it. “What’s up?”

“We’re worried about you.” Audrey leaned forwards and reached for his hand; Ethan pulled away. “We haven’t seen you much this week, are you doing alright?”   
“Yeah, I’m just out with friends.” Ethan shrugged. “You both said I should try making friends here. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m fucking 17, come on, I go to the mall after school, what do you want from me?”

“You leave early, you come home late… What are we supposed to think?” Walter stood up. “Are you doing drugs again?”   
“I’ve literally never done drugs.” Ethan stood as well; he was taller than Walter, so he felt a little safer like that. “I’ve smoked weed, which is not the same. And I smoke cigarettes, but so do both of you. You can hardly say anything.” He rolled his eyes. “I leave early because I pick up Lex and Hannah, which means I have to stop by the middle school to drop off Hannah before Lex and I can drive to class, which means that we need to leave early. I come home late because I go to the mall with Lex and Deb and the others. Nothing’s happening. Can I go now?”

“Where have you been today?” Audrey had stood up now, too, and was walking over to him.

Ethan stepped away from her. “Out with Lex. We went to get coffee, and then we went to the park, and then we got takeout and ate in the car. It’s not a big deal. Normal fucking 17-year-olds doing normal fucking things. Can I go now?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but walked towards his room.

They didn’t follow him, but he could hear them whispering, long past when he fell asleep.

Monday at lunch, Lex decided that she didn’t need a chair of her own, and instead sat on Ethan’s leg. Gwen raised an eyebrow at them, but didn’t say anything.

Deb was late for lunch, but they weren’t quiet. “What are you doing Lex? Crushing on the new guy already?”

Lex stuck her tongue out at Deb. “So what if I am.” She kissed Ethan.

“Whatever.” Deb took a seat next to Alice. “Since when did you two start dating?”

“Saturday. Well, we went out Saturday, we haven’t like, talked about it.”

“I think we’re dating.” Ethan kissed her cheek. “That sounds good.”

“Yeah.” Lex checked her phone. “Shit, something’s up with Hannah, I gotta run.” She gave Ethan a kiss. “See you later, babe.”

“See you. Let me know if you need anything.” He smiled at her.

Deb moved to sit next to Ethan. “So.” She raised an eyebrow. “You and Lex, huh?”

“I guess.” He reached for his smoothie. “We’ll see how long it lasts.”   
“You like her, don’t you?” It was Alice who’d spoken. “You look like you like her.”   
“I do, I do, but… Come on, we’ve barely known each other for two weeks. We’ll see.” He shrugged. “I hope, though.”

“Good.” Deb smiled. “I hope you know that I will rip your guts out if you hurt her feelings.”   
“Had expected no less.” Ethan checked the time. “I better get to class. See you guys later.”   
There was a chorus of “see ya”s from his friends.

He texted Lex.  _ everything alright babe? _

_ yeah, everything’s fine. can you tell mrs. allen that i’m gonna be a few mins late. _

_ of course <3 _ He silenced his phone and put it away, and went to class.

Lex asked that they didn’t join the others at the mall that day, so when they were off, she and Ethan went to his car alone. “Where do you wanna go?” he asked.

“Anywhere.” Lex sank into the passenger seat. “We don’t gotta pick up Hannah today, she’s already home. I wish I never had to come back to Hatchetfield.”   
“That would be a shame, I’d miss you.” Ethan pulled out. “Sounds like you need a break, though. Is there a bigger city nearby? I’ll buy dinner.”   
“We can go to Clyvesdale.” Lex smiled. “Thanks babe.”

Ethan leaned over to kiss her. “Let’s go.” He pulled out of the lot and began driving towards the bridge. “What do you wanna do?”   
“Anything.” She smiled. “Thanks. It’s nice.”   
“Of course.”

They drove in silence, but the kind of silence that didn't need breaking. It definitely wasn't the kind of silence that felt awkward, at least not to Ethan, at least not then.

Traffic on the bridge was slow enough that he looked over at Lex. She had her eyes closed, but she wasn't asleep. "Hey babe." He reached over to hold her hand. "I hope you're prepared to give directions, I have no idea where we're going."

She smiled, but didn't open her eyes. "I know." She took his hand and squeezed it. "Just keep going straight for now."

"I can't, I'm gay." He chuckled. "Alright, just pay attention."

She chuckled a little, too. "You know, I should've seen that coming, all of us make the same joke."

"But you didn't?"

"But I didn't."

They were off the bridge, just entering Clyvesdale, when Lex told him to take a right, then park the car. They were in a small lot, seemingly not connected to anything.

"Where are we?" Ethan asked.

"Excellent question." Lex shrugged and got out of the car. "Somewhere not in Hatchetfield. That's good enough."

"I guess." Ethan got out and reached for her hand. "Do you just wanna walk?"

"That or hook up in the car." Lex kissed him. "But that can be done later. Let's just walk."

Ethan laughed, but followed her. They walked around Clyvesdale for a couple of hours, chatting. Ethan bought them coffee from a street vendor and haggled the price down to two bucks. Lex asked why he bothered, but he just shrugged at her.

It was winter and got dark fairly early, so they headed back to the car. "I don't wanna head home yet," Lex said. "Can we just stay out? I'll buy dinner, but please Ethan, I don't wanna go home yet."

"You don't have to." He kissed her. "But sure, where do you wanna eat? I just gotta let Audrey know I won't be home." He took out his phone; he was better off calling, but he texted anyway. "There we go. All yours, babe."

"Thanks Ethan." Lex smiled and hugged him. "You're the best."


	5. Chapter 5

They stayed out late the next several days, and then didn't see each other at all on the weekend. Ethan hadn't really expected to miss Lex as much as he did, but he didn't mind. They texted a lot, and even called each other a few times. Audrey overheard one of the calls, which forced Ethan to tell her and Walter that he had a girlfriend, but it didn't matter. They didn't like it, but they also didn't stop him from leaving early Monday morning to pick up Lex and Hannah.

"Last Monday we have like this," Lex said during their free period, when they'd driven to the park again. "They're switching around the schedule after Christmas, but we'll still have classes together."

"That's good." Ethan smiled. "Maybe we'll have a free period another day, then."

"Hopefully." She smiled. "We'll see each other over the holidays, right?"

"Of course! Now that Walter and Audrey know I have a girlfriend, they might even be persuaded to let you stay over." Ethan smiled. "Don't get your hopes up, but it's possible."

"I'd like that." She kissed him. "Girlfriend, am I?"

"Yeah." He kissed her, but wasn't quite paying enough attention; he kissed her nose more than her lips, but tried to play it off as cute. "I think so."

"Works for me." She leaned into him, and he wrapped an arm around her. "Works for me quite well." She was quiet for a moment. "Hannah's gonna be happy, she likes you. Which is good, I wouldn't date you otherwise."

"Of course not." He kissed her head. "It's about time we head back for class."

"Yeah, I know." Lex sighed. "I kinda wanna skip and go on a date instead, though."

"Me too, but if my GPA drops enough to fail, I won't get to have classes with my wonderful girlfriend." He freed himself from Lex and started the car. "So it's better if we go."

"You're right." She sighed. "I just wish you weren't."

"Me too, babe."

Ethan saw more of his friends over the holidays than he'd expected. Lex, of course, they went out, and she did stay at his house one night, but Deb asked if he'd be willing to drive her and Alice to Clyvesdale to get the last few Christmas presents, and they bought him lunch and coffee as a thank-you. Then Danny invited him over, and it turned out that Gwen and Deb were there too, and the four of them got ridiculously high together. It did mean that he was kinda miserable on New Year's Eve, but Lex texted him a kiss at exactly midnight, which did make him smile. January 2nd was his 18th birthday, so he managed to get the entire smoke club together at Lakeside for ice cream. It was a better school break than he could recall having in years.

Lex called him the day before they were to start school. She was crying. "What's wrong, Lex, what happened?" he asked. "Is Hannah okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine, it's just… I just got back from a meeting at school. Um, Mr. Houston has a family emergency, so they're deciding to cancel shop class and uhh, I'm gonna fail, I'm gonna have to repeat a year."

"Hey hey, it's alright babe." Ethan tried to sound calming. "I repeated a year as well, it's fine, it's not the end of the world. You'll be fine, I promise. Do you want me to come over?"

"I don't… Yeah, I think I'd like that." Lex had calmed a little.

"Alright." Ethan grabbed a shirt before he even hung up. "I'll see you in 20, alright babe?"

"Alright. See you." Lex hung up.

Ethan got properly dressed and left his room. "Walter? Audrey? I'm going to see Lex, I don't know when I'll be home."

Audrey showed up. "You're going to see that tramp again?"

"She's not a tramp, Audrey." Ethan really wanted to hit her, but he was smarter than that. "She's my girlfriend and she's having a bad day, so I'm gonna go be a supportive partner, alright? I'll see you tonight." He left.

"Ethan! Ethan, come back here!" Audrey yelled. Ethan ignored her, he'd deal with the fallout later.

Lex was sitting on the stairs outside the trailer when he pulled up. "Hey babe." He went to sit next to her. "How are you feeling?"

She leaned against him. "Not great. And I'm out of cigs."

"Here." He pulled a pack out of his pocket. "You deserve it."

"Thanks babe." She lit the cigarette and took a long drag. "I don't know what I'm gonna do. I mean, I have a job, I'm sure Frank will let me go full time, I can just drop out. Wouldn't be the first time, you know."

"Still, you should stay in school." Ethan put an arm around her and kissed her temple. "You wanna leave Hatchetfield, right? College is a great excuse. And hey, I'm not exactly valedictorian, but at least I'm not currently failing anything, maybe I can help a little bit? Or you can ask Alice, she's smart, and I'm sure she wouldn't mind helping. If you can save your grades just a little bit by summer, you'll get to go into senior year and graduate with us."

"I guess." Lex took another drag. "We'll see. But thanks for trying to make me feel better."

"Anytime babe."

"Hey, mom's not home, wanna come inside when we're done smoking? It's cold out here."

"Sure, sounds good." He smiled. "Hey. You'll be alright."

"Yeah."

They finished their cigarettes in silence, and then went inside. Hannah wasn't home either; in school, Lex said, they started early for special ed. So it was just the two of them, sitting on Lex's bed and talking, then laying down, cuddling and still talking, although much softer now.

"I'm just scared," Lex admitted in a whisper. "I wanna leave here, but then who's gonna take care of Hannah? She's only eleven, and I can't take her with me, but mom's not gonna be any fucking use. She needs me."

"It's alright babe." Ethan kissed her. "It sucks, but you'll be alright. We'll figure it out, okay?"

"Okay."

They ended up just falling asleep, waking up when Hannah came home, but Ethan wouldn't have it any other way.


	6. Chapter 6

School started back up, with new class schedules. Since shop class had been cancelled, Ethan had to take a new elective; he chose French, even though he already took Spanish, but Lex took art, so their schedules got messed up, and suddenly they weren't taking calc or English together anymore, either. It kinda sucked, but at least Deb was in most of his classes, and Alice was in a fair few as well, so he wasn't alone.

He got sick two weeks after school started; not badly, but Audrey made him stay home anyway.  _ hey babe, i'm sick so i won't pick you up today, sorry. _

Lex didn't answer, but he assumed she got to school anyway. She texted him at noon.  _ i'm sorry, do you want me to drop by? _

_ before 5, yeah. _ He didn't want her to be there when Audrey and Walter were home, but before then, it would be nice.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Ethan dragged himself out of bed and went to open; Lex was there, smiling, holding a takeout bag. "Hey babe."

"Hey, come in." He stepped aside. "Don't you have class?"

"Eh, who cares." She smiled. "My boyfriend is sick. I brought chicken."

"You're the best." Ethan grabbed a shirt and went to the dining table. "The literal best."

"You better believe it." Lex blew him a kiss.

They ate together, laughing and joking and just having a good time. Ethan could almost ignore that they only had a few hours.

But they did, and eventually, Audrey came home and saw Lex and Ethan, still at the table. "What's going on here?"

"Hi Audrey. Lex was nice enough to bring me some food so I didn't have to cook while I was sick." Ethan smiled, but it felt more forced than it probably looked.

"Hey Mrs. Green." Lex smiled, less forced. "I just figured it was a shame for Ethan to be alone when he's sick."

"Well. Thank you. But I'm home now." Audrey wasn't smiling. "No reason for you to be here anymore, Miss Foster."

"Right." Lex got up and walked over to kiss Ethan's hair. "I'll see you soon babe."

"See you." Ethan glanced at Audrey, then smiled at Lex. "Get home safe."

"Sure." Lex smiled. "Bye Mrs. Green."

"Goodbye." Audrey turned her attention to Ethan. "I cannot believe you pretend to be sick so you get to hang out with that slut."

"Goodbye Audrey." Ethan got up to go to his room, then stopped. "No, actually, Lex is a good kid, alright? She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, so thanks for moving to this godforsaken town so that I could meet her. Really, thank you, Audrey. I mean that. And if I wasn't sick, I could've spent all day with her instead of just a few hours. So fuck you, Audrey. I'm gonna go to bed." Which he did, without waiting for her to reply.

Unsurprisingly, Ethan was largely not allowed to go out for the next week. He did anyway, just made sure to be home first. Lex even slept over, just hiding in his room. It was a good time, even if it sucked.

As soon as he was allowed out again, he went with the smoke club to the park — it was early February, far too cold — to smoke and hang out. Alice was with them, leaning against Deb and turning down the joint every time it came around to her. Ethan and Lex were leaning on each other, their legs intertwined. Gwen tried to do the same with Danny, but while he let her rest her head on his shoulder, he didn't reciprocate; Ethan almost felt bad for her.

"I gotta go." Alice got up after an hour. "Dad's picking me up."

"Come on Alice." Danny gestured with a joint. "You can't just sit and watch us for ten minutes."

"Shut up, Danny." Deb rolled her eyes. "She's been here for an hour, and it's fucking cold." She kissed Alice. "See you soon babe."

"See you." Alice waved at the group. "Bye guys."

"Bye." Ethan freed himself from Lex and followed Alice. "Hey, Alice, hang on a sec."

"What's up?" She smiled.

"I just wanted to ask if you're okay. You've been quiet lately. More than usual." He smiled back. "You don't have to tell me, I just wanted to check in."

"Yeah, I just… I'm getting sick of Danny." She rolled her eyes. "I don't wanna smoke. And you know, family."

"I know." He gave her a hug. "Good luck."

"Thanks." She smiled. "I really need to go."

"Sure." Ethan waved and went back to the others.

"What's up?" Lex asked.

Ethan kissed her. "Nothing, I just needed to ask her something."

"Alright." Lex leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too." He looked around. "I don't wanna drive when I'm this stoned, though."

"No, I know." She sighed. "We can sleep in the car, though."

"We can." He kissed her. "Is that what you wanna do?"

Danny looked at them. "Come on! Is everyone leaving?"

"Shut up, Danny." Deb rolled her eyes. "I am. Bye guys."

"Bye Deb." Ethan winked at her. "Stay safe."

"You too."

"Bye Deb." Lex didn't look up from Ethan's shoulder, but she did laugh a little.

Gwen waved and laughed. Then she leaned into Danny again; he freed himself this time. "Well, if everyone's leaving, then I'm going too," he announced as he stood up. "Goodbye."

"I'm not leaving," Gwen said. "We can share another joint, just us."

"Sure." Danny sat back down and began rolling. "Aren't you two going?"

"Yeah." Lex got up, tugging Ethan with her. "Come on babe."

"Alright." Ethan got up. "See you guys later."

"See ya." Gwen smiled. Danny was too busy rolling to acknowledge them leaving.

They walked back to Ethan's car, and both got in the backseat. "God, Danny is such a dick," Lex said as soon as the doors were closed. "Like, come on dude, we all know that Alice is straight-edge, she's never gonna smoke, and that's alright. Weed isn't a personality trait."

"I know." Ethan smiled. He was comfortably stoned, and Lex was with him. "Hey Lex?"

"Yeah?" She looked at him and smiled.

"I love you." His smile widened, probably goofier, but that was alright.

She elbowed him in the side. "You're stoned."

"Yeah. Still true."

"I love you too." She kissed him, and didn't stop.


	7. Chapter 7

By the end of February, Lex had dropped out of school and started working full time. Ethan was proud of her, but it also meant he saw her a lot less. He usually went to the mall after school and hung out anyway, which inevitably ended with him buying gifts for Hannah because if he didn't buy anything, Lex's boss would kick him out.

Walter came in one day. "What are you doing here, Ethan?"

"Hanging out." Ethan shrugged. "What are  _ you _ doing here? You don't know any kids."

"Neither do you."

"I know Hannah." Ethan held up his bag from Toy Zone. “And my girlfriend works here. Why are you here, Walter?”

“Looking for someone.” Walter looked around. “He doesn’t seem to be here. I’ll see you at home, Ethan.”   
“See you?” Ethan looked confused.

“What was he doing here?” Lex had popped up behind him.

“Don’t know.” Ethan turned to kiss her. “It confuses me too, but oh well.” He checked the clock. “When’s your shift over?”

“20 minutes.” She smiled. “But Hannah’s done in ten, so could you go get her first?”

“Of course.” Ethan got up from where he was seated, on a box. “See you soon. I love you.”   
“Love you too.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d picked Hannah up without Lex, far from it, but she was being even more weird that day. She didn’t wanna get in the car, stubbornly standing outside.

“Come on, Banana, we don’t have all day.” He held open the door. “Get in, we’re going to get Lex.”

“No!” She took a step away from the car. “No.”   
“Hey, okay, calm down.” He smiled. “What’s wrong?”

“Bad car.” Hannah had crossed her arms.

“Aww, come on.” Ethan patted it. “It’s old, but it runs just fine, I tell ya, I take care of this thing. Come on, you don’t want Lex to wait for us, do you?”

“Bad car.” Hannah shook her head. “Not driving.”   
“Alright.” Ethan sighed. “Then wait for us, I’m gonna go get Lex, then you can come, alright?”

“No!” Hannah yelled now, and went to put her arms around Ethan, holding tight. “Don’t go! Bad car!”

“Calm down, okay, I won’t go.” Ethan put one arm around Hannah and used to other to get his phone to call Lex. “Hey babe, sorry, Hannah won’t let me drive, she’s being crazy again.”   
“Okay, she’s not crazy!” Lex sighed. “Alright, I’ll walk. See you soon babe.”   
“See you.”

Ethan kept hugging Hannah until Lex showed up. Suddenly the car was alright, so they just drove home.

Two days later, Ethan heard about a near-crash on the road leading to Lakeside, and couldn’t help but remember Hannah’s reluctance to let him drive just then.

Audrey and Walter decided to go back to the city during spring break, and to bring Ethan, so he didn’t see Lex at all, which sucked.

She called him the day before he was supposed to come back. “Hey so uhh, I have some weird news.”   
“Alright? Bad weird or good weird?” Ethan had moved off into the corner and lowered his voice to avoid his family hearing him.

“I think good weird. Okay, you remember Mr. Houston, right? Anyway, I ran into him the other day, and he had this whole spiel about how he’s disappointed in me for dropping out and stuff, right, but then we talked for a bit, and he realised what I’m doing for Hannah, anyway, he talked about maybe helping out with Hannah, which is super cool of him, he helped me out a lot in high school, so I did feel a bit abandoned when he left, but he’s promising to help out, which is really cool.” She took a deep breath. “Okay yeah, that’s it, I just wanted to tell you.”   
“That does sound cool.” Ethan smiled, then noticed Walter glaring at him. “Look, babe, I really wanna talk to you, but I think Walter might actually yell at me if I don’t hang up, so…”   
“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”   
“Sure. See you.” Ethan hung up and returned to his family and a relatively boring night.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Ethan drove Lex to Mr. Houston’s house; she was going to meet with him about helping out, maybe getting her back in school. He pulled up in front of the house. “Here we are. I’ll wait for you.”   
“Aren’t you coming in?” Lex smiled. “I’d like you there, just as like, moral support or whatever.”   
“Sure.” Ethan shrugged and killed the engine. “Why not.”

They walked up to the door together, and Lex knocked.

Mr. Houston opened. He looked significantly less put together than Ethan remembered, but he smiled. “Hey Lex. Ethan.”   
“Hi Mr. Houston.” Lex smiled. “I brought Ethan along for like… Yeah, I just want him to be here.” She squeezed his hand slightly.

“Hi Mr. Houston. I can leave if you prefer, but Lex asked me to—”   
“No, no, come on in.” Mr. Houston stepped aside. “Tim is with a friend, I figured that’s best for today… Come sit down.” He led them to a coffee table. “Coffee?”   
“Yeah, thanks.” Lex smiled. “Ethan too.”   
“I can speak for myself, babe.” Then he smiled at Mr. Houston. “But she’s right, I would like coffee.”   
“Perfect, I’ll get some.” Mr. Houston disappeared and returned a minute later with three mugs of coffee. “Alright, then, Lex. How come you dropped out? You were doing so well.”   
Lex rolled her eyes. “I was hardly valedictorian.”   
“No, but you were doing alright in my class.”   
“Yeah, shop class, where you get an A if you don’t chop off your finger. Anyway, they cancelled shop class after you left, and well, I flunked out. So I figured, hey, what’s the point anyway, I’m just gonna end up working my entire life in fucking Hatchetfield at this rate, might as well get started. So I went full time in Toy Zone and decided not to go back to school.” Lex leaned back and sipped her coffee. “It’s fine.”   
“Is it?” Mr. Houston leaned forwards. “Come on, Lex, what happened to you? You used to want to be an actress, move to California… What happened?”   
“I still want that.” Lex shrugged. “But I can’t leave Hannah, and since I started working full time, mom decided that picking up unemployment checks wasn’t that urgent, so who’s gonna feed Hannah if I leave? Certainly not her. No, I’m staying, at least until she’s done.”

“We can call CPS.” Mr. Houston looked suddenly serious. “They shouldn’t have a 17 year old as sole provider, we can do something about this.”

“No!” Lex practically slammed her mug down; Ethan put a hand on her arm. “No. None of that. They’re gonna put us in separate foster families, and I can’t do that. Hannah she, she’s special, she needs help, she needs me. And, and Ethan, she needs us, we can’t be split up, I can’t do that, it’s fine, I can take care of her, it’s fine—”   
“Lex, stop.” Mr. Houston leaned over. “You can’t. You’re 17. We need to do something, even if it’s not calling CPS.”   
“Alright.” Lex leaned back. “What else can we do? Like, thanks for the help, Mr. Houston, but I’ve already thought about it. I can just stay here until Hannah is done with school.”   
“Which will be when, in ten years?”   
“Six,” Lex muttered.

“Whatever. Look, you need a solution, and you need it now, okay?” Mr. Houston tapped the table a few times. “Okay, for now, just… Ethan?”   
“Yeah?”   
“Is there anything you can do to help? Anything at all?”

Ethan shrugged. “I mean, I do my best, I drive them around and stuff. Pick up Hannah when Lex is working. I can’t really do that much, Audrey and Walter don’t like that I see them at all.”

“Those your parents?” Ethan nodded, so Mr. Houston continued. “Well, it’s the best you can do. It’s good, we just need to think about it. There’s a solution.”   
“Of course.” Lex downed her coffee. “Hey, Mr. Houston? Why do you care? Like, I appreciate it, but why?”

Mr. Houston looked at her for a long moment. “I’m proud of you Lex. I always knew you had a great work ethic. I just think it’s a shame to see you throw away your potential like this, especially if I can do something.”

“Thank you.” Lex smiled, then looked at Ethan. “We should probably get going. But thanks Mr. Houston; let me know if you figure something out, and I’ll let you know if I think of anything.”   
“Yeah, that’s perfect Lex.” Mr. Houston smiled. “Thanks for coming. You too, Ethan. You take care of her, now.”   
“Of course.” Ethan reached for Lex’s hand. “Let’s go, babe.”

“Let’s go.” Lex smiled at him, and they left together.

Over the next several weeks, Ethan and Lex met with Mr. Houston almost every other day. They were making plans for Lex and Hannah, for Ethan, for him, for his son. Ethan loved being there; there was something lovely about how much they all cared. He missed that at home, where Walter and Audrey seemed to try to exist without ever seeing each other, with Ethan himself as just a device, another decoration.

By the time summer rolled around, they had a plan; Tom called CPS, but on the condition that they let both the girls be fostered with him instead. So during the summer, Ethan and Mr. Houston both drove back and forth from Ashlee Foster's trailer and Mr. Houston's house with all of Lex's and Hannah's things.

While the girls were setting up, Mr. Houston pulled Ethan aside. "Hey, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure thing, Mr. Houston."

He shook his head. "You can call me Tom. We're there."

"Alright, Tom then. What's up?" Ethan took a seat on the couch.

Mr. Houston — Tom — sat across from him. "I'm worried about you, Ethan. You don't seem happy."

He replied with a shrug. "I call my parents by their first names. I'm sure you can imagine what my home life is like." He twisted his hands nervously. "It's fine. And it's only for another year, 'til I'm done with high school, then I can leave. Go to college. It's fine."

"I can call CPS for you too. You probably wouldn't be sent here, I think I've outstayed my welcome for making demands, but somewhere in town. It's better." Tom drummed on the table. "You're a good kid, Ethan, I wanna help you."

"Yeah, uhh, thanks. I just uhh, I'm 18, so… CPS aren't gonna be much help, but thanks. If I had money I'd move out, but I'm saving up for like, college and whatever we're doing after high school, so uhh, not right now. Eventually though. It's fine." Ethan leaned back. "Hey, can I have some coffee?"

"Sure." Tom got up. "Well, you're welcome to come by here whenever, you know, I'm sure the girls would love to see you, and Tim too." He went to the kitchen to get Ethan's coffee.

Ethan didn't go home that night; it was the first time Lex had had her own bedroom since Hannah was born — Tom had kicked himself out of his workshop to make it work, even when Lex told him they were fine to share — and she was so happy. Ethan was happy for her; she deserved it. She deserved everything.


	9. Chapter 9

The summer was rough for Ethan. Not going to school meant not seeing Deb and Alice as frequently, and with Lex still working full time, he didn’t see her much, either.

Three weeks into the vacation, he got a call from Tom. “Hey Tom.”   
“Hey Ethan. I’m headed out of town for the day, and Lex is working, do you think you can come by and watch Tim and Hannah? Normally I call Grace Chastity, but she’s travelling, so…”   
“Sure.” Ethan immediately got up and began to get ready, still holding the phone. “Absolutely, I’ll be there in 30.”   
“Perfect, thanks.” Tom hung up.

Ethan lied to Audrey and said he was getting paid for babysitting, because then she was happy to let him go. It worked.

He pulled up in front of Tom’s house 25 mins later and went to knock. “Hey Tom.”   
“Hi Ethan, thanks for coming.” Tom let him in. “Lex got called to work last minute, so—”   
“Don’t even worry about it.” Ethan smiled. “Any excuse to get out of the house, you know, and I like the kids.”

“Yeah. Oh, here.” Tom pulled a 50 out of his wallet. “I’ll probably be gone past dinnertime, so half of that is for you guys to order some pizza. Don’t let the kids fool you, they can’t eat more than a half each, so make them share. Hannah is allergic to mushrooms.”   
“Okay.” Ethan pocketed the 50. “I’ll leave the change on the coffee table, I guess.”   
“Oh no, the change is for you. Don’t think I don’t pay my babysitters.” Tom smiled. “I normally give Grace 25, it’s probably gonna be a bit more for you, but you keep whatever, I know you need it.”   
“I don’t— Tom I can’t—”   
“Shut up, Ethan.” Tom’s tone was light, and he smiled and patted Ethan’s shoulder, but his eyes brooked no argument. “Don’t worry about it. I know it’s not much, but it’s something.”   
“It’s something,” Ethan agreed. “Thanks Tom.”   
“Don’t mention it. I better get going.” He raised his voice to shout back into the house. “Be good to Ethan, kids!”

Hannah and Tim appeared at the door to the entrance hall. “Of course, dad.” Tim smiled and waved. “See you tonight.”   
“See you.” Tom left.

“Alright then, Tim, Banana.” Ethan smiled. “What do you wanna do?”

“Not homework,” Tim said quickly. Then he smiled. “Grace always makes us do homework.”   
“Aha.” Ethan walked into the living room with them. “Well, do you have homework?”

Tim was quick to shake his head, and Hannah shook hers, too. “It’s summer,” Tim said. “Who has homework in the summer?”

“I don’t know.” Ethan smiled. “But that settles that. Let’s play games instead.”

They spent the afternoon playing Ticket To Ride, which Hannah was unfairly good at for a kid who barely spoke. Then they played chess, and Hannah won that too, even when Tim and Ethan teamed up against her.

Once dinner rolled around, Ethan ordered pizzas — apparently they were used to having to share, because Tim knew exactly what they wanted, both of them, including that they weren’t allowed any mushrooms. Ethan ordered something random, and threw in some soda even though Hannah told him that Tom usually didn’t let them have soda on school nights. It was vacation, he reminded her, and Tom wasn’t home.

Lex came home while they were eating. “What are you doing here?”   
“I’m babysitting,” Ethan replied, gesturing to the kids. “Tom had to go out of town for the day, so he called me.”

“Nice.” Lex sat down and took a slice of Ethan’s pizza. “Well, pleasant surprise.” She kissed his cheek, then looked at the kids. “Has he been good to you?”

Tim nodded excitedly. “He let us play games all afternoon, and he let us have soda, even though it’s a school day, but it’s technically not because it’s vacation, but don’t tell dad anyway because then he probably won’t let Ethan babysit again and he’s a lot nicer than Grace because she just makes us do homework even when we don’t have homework.”

Lex laughed at that. “That’s good.” She elbowed Ethan in the side. “Maybe you can be a babysitter, that sounds like a good job for you.”   
“Oh sure.” Ethan rolled his eyes. “Hey, do you think Tom minds if I stay the night?”

“Not at all.” Lex smiled. “I’d like that, we don’t see each other that much.” She looked at the kids. “I’m gonna go take a shower. Be nice to Ethan.”   
“They’ve been perfect angels all day,” Ethan promised, smiling at her.

While Lex was in the shower, Ethan made the kids help him clean up after dinner. They hid the leftover soda in Lex’s room; Ethan knew he was probably gonna drink it himself. He shot a text at Audrey saying that Tom wasn’t coming home until late, so he would stay the night. She didn’t reply, but Ethan took that as a confirmation that he was okay.

Tom came home about an hour after Lex; the kids had been sent to their rooms, but not quite to bed yet, which was fine; it wasn’t 10pm yet, and it was vacation. They wanted to stay up to say goodnight.

Once they went to bed, Lex smiled at Ethan. “Hey, it’s really nice that you’re here. And I’m happy the kids like you, maybe you can come by more often.”   
“I hope so.” Ethan kissed her. “We’ll have to ask Tom. But I think the kids prefer me as a babysitter, judging from how Tim talks about Grace.”

Lex rolled her eyes. “I don’t blame him.” Then she smiled. “I prefer you over Grace, too.”

“Of course you do.” He kissed her again. “Goodnight babe. I love you.”   
“Goodnight. Love you too.” Lex closed her eyes and buried her face in Ethan’s shoulder.

Ethan stayed awake for a while, just savouring the moment, Lex asleep in his arms, in Tom’s house, no Audrey or Walter in the next room. A whole day with the kids, more enjoyable than he’d expected, and then a night with Lex. A moment of perfect respite for his rather shitty life, he thought, as he eventually drifted off to sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

A few days later, Ethan was woken up by his phone ringing. It was Deb. “Hey,” he said, still groggy. “What’s up, anything wrong?”

“Not exactly, just shitty.” Deb sighed. “So, you know how Alice’s mother left a while back?”   
“Aha.”   
“Well, anyway, they just told her that her mother is gonna have full custody, so Alice is gonna have to move to Clyvesdale this week, she’s starting a different school. And while that obviously sucks, it’s not all.”   
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Ethan wasn’t entirely sure why Deb had called  _ him _ of all people, but he supposed they were pretty good friends.

“Yeah.” Deb took a deep breath. “Her dad doesn’t like me, so the one week a month she’s actually in Hatchetfield, I’m not allowed to see her except for during the day and  _ maybe _ if he’s doing something with us, too. Like, what the fuck? I know I can go to Clyvesdale on the weekends, Mrs. Thompson is alright, but then I either have to take the bus or get someone to drive or borrow a car, and that’s never gonna happen. And Alice wanted to stay here with her dad, he just gave up, it’s all just so stupid.” They sighed again. “Sorry, I just needed to talk to someone, and it’s already a lot for Alice, and Lex is working and yeah. You’re my friend.”   
“Of course I am.” Ethan sat up. “Tell you what, I usually don’t have plans on the weekends unless I’m babysitting, so I can probably drive you. I can always just bring the kids.”

“You’re literally the best, Ethan!” Deb sounded like she jumped. “Okay, thank you so much, I’m gonna tell Alice, she’s definitely gonna be happy about it. And we’ll pay for the gas, of course, I know you don’t have a lot of money once the car is paid for, that’s not a problem.”

“Sure.” Ethan smiled into the phone. “Alright Deb, you kinda woke me up, let me know if you need anything, I’m gonna go get breakfast and go see my girlfriend.”   
“Have fun! Thanks!”   
“Yeah, bye.” Ethan hung up. He went to put on a shirt and then walked out to the kitchen. “Good morning Walter.”   
“Good morning.” Walter looked at him. “What are you doing today?”

“Driving Lex to work, then taking Hannah and Tim to the park.” He shrugged. “Tom is going out.”   
“What does out mean?” Walter genuinely seemed like he was making conversation, looking up from his PC and at Ethan, which was surprising.

“He’s taking his girlfriend for lunch.” Ethan opened the fridge and poured himself some milk. “I promised to watch the kids so he didn’t have to wait for Lex to have a day off. Becky is busy, too.”   
“Becky Barnes?” Walter furrowed his brow. “Didn’t her husband leave her?”   
“Yeah, and good riddance.” Ethan had met Becky exactly once, but Lex knew her a little better, and had told him a fair bit. “He used to hit her.”

“Oh.” Walter looked back to his PC. “Well, enjoy your day.”   
“Yeah, you too.” Ethan grabbed his toast and his milk and took a seat. It was one of the longest civil conversations he’d had with Walter since he was maybe 12.

So of course it was ruined. “What’s that?” Walter pointed at Ethan’s wrist, the tattoo he usually kept carefully hidden with a sleeve or a glove. “Is that a tattoo?”   
“Uh, yeah.” Ethan smiled sheepishly. “I got it when I turned 18.” A lie, he’d been 16, but that didn’t matter now. “It’s professionally done.” Another lie, but it was a fairly pretty tattoo, so he could probably pull it off.

“Aha.” Walter grabbed his wrist to look closer. “And what does this mean? These colours?”

Ethan weighed his options. He was out to Audrey, but not to Walter. He didn’t know how he’d react. “It uhh, it means that I’m bisexual.”

“You’re not.” Walter let go of his wrist and went back to his PC. “You have a girlfriend.”   
“That doesn’t mean— Whatever.” Ethan sighed. “Whatever.”

He didn’t say another word, except for saying goodbye when he left. Spending the day with the kids was much better than thinking about Walter, anyway.


	11. Chapter 11

The first Friday after Alice moved to Clyvesdale coincided with Lex’s day off, so Ethan drove to her place in the morning to pick her up, then went to get Deb, and the three of them set out towards Clyvesdale and Alice’s mother’s new house.

It was a really nice townhouse. “She got more money in the divorce than Mr. Thompson,” Deb said when they noticed Ethan’s surprise. “So she got herself a nice house.”   
“Makes sense.” Ethan killed the engine and got out. “Shall we?”   
“Let’s go.” Deb walked up to knock, Lex and Ethan a step behind her.

Alice opened. “Hi guys.” She smiled.   
“Hey babe.” Deb kissed her. “Good to see you.”   
“Yeah, you too.” She smiled. “Hey Lex. Ethan.”   
“Hey Alice.” Lex smiled and went to hug her. “Nice house.”   
“Yeah, mom wanted something nice after 20 years in an apartment.” Alice smiled and gave Ethan a hug. “Thanks for driving,” she whispered.

“No problem,” he whispered back. Then, out loud, “So, what’s the plan?”   
“I’m gonna show you the house. Then we’re probably gonna eat lunch or something, then I don’t know.” She stepped aside. “Come inside.”   
“Sounds good.” Deb gave Alice another kiss. “Is your mom home?”   
“Nah.” Alice smiled. “She’s working, we’re by ourselves.”

“That’s great.” Lex walked in.

They walked through the house, Alice pointing out things on occasion, but mostly just talking; with it being summer, Ethan and Alice hadn’t seen each other that much, and with Lex always working, she’d seen her even less. It was a nice time, and Ethan was reminded again of how happy he was to have moved to Hatchetfield. He missed things in the city sometimes, missed his friends and his school, but he wouldn’t trade it, not for the world.

They ate lunch together, then Ethan and Lex said their goodbyes and left, Ethan promising to be back for Deb Sunday.

“Where do you wanna go?” Lex asked once they were out of the house.

“You know.” Ethan smiled at her and held the car door open. “It’s been a while since we’ve been on a date, hasn’t it?”

Lex smiled and kissed him. “It has.” She got in the car and waited for him to get in the driver’s seat. “What are you thinking, Rob Smith?”   
He rolled her eyes. “That hasn’t died?” He laughed. “Okay, two options; option one, drive back to Hatchetfield, go to Beanie’s, just like our first date. Or we can find somewhere nice in Clyvesdale, my treat.”   
“Babe, I have a full-time job and you’re poor, you really shouldn’t pay for our dates.” Lex rolled her eyes. “Let’s find somewhere in town.”   
“I have way more money than I used to, now that Tom is paying me for watching the kids.” He started the engine. “But yeah, Clyvesdale it is.”   
They drove around in silence until Lex spotted an ice cream place and a free parking spot, and Ethan parked the car.

They ate ice cream on a bench, tasting each other’s and laughing at bad jokes. Ethan commented on it being the first time in a while they’d had a proper date, and Lex nodded.

“I know,” she said. “I just, with work, and the kids, and Tom… But yeah, we should go out more often.” She smiled. “You know, I’m off tomorrow as well, why don’t you come home and sleep? I’m sure Tom and Becky wouldn’t mind, Becky doesn’t even properly live there anyway she doesn’t have anything to say, and then we could go out tomorrow too?”   
“Sounds great, babe.” Ethan smiled. “I’d love that.”   
“Good.” Lex stood up and held a hand out to him. “Let’s go!”

“Let’s go.” Ethan took her hand and stood up, then pulled her in for a kiss. “You got ice cream on your cheek, babe.”   
“Asshole.” She kissed his cheek. “So do you.”   
He just laughed, wiped it off with the cuff of his jacket, and kissed her again. “Sure. Shall we?”   
They kept laughing for pretty much the whole trip back to Hatchetfield.

Ethan woke up early the next morning, and tried to get up without waking up Lex. He managed, but only just barely.

He went to the kitchen, barefoot and just wearing a shirt, and began making pancakes.

Approximately three minutes into this endeavour, someone came out into the kitchen. It was Becky. “Good morning.” She smiled at him. “What are you doing?”   
“Making pancakes.” Ethan looked at the things he’d assembled on the counter. “Okay, attempting to make pancakes. I wanted to surprise Lex.”

“Here, I’ll help you.” She walked over, pushed him aside, and started measuring out ingredients. “That’s really sweet of you, Ethan.”   
“Thanks. I uhh, I’ve never made pancakes before. I looked up a recipe, but…”

Becky laughed. “It’s alright. I won’t tell Lex.”   
They chatted a bit more while they — mostly Becky — made pancakes. Hannah came out, then Tim, but Tom and Lex both slept in.

“Alright, I have to get ready for work.” The batter was made, as was half the pancakes. “You’ll do alright on your own from here on out, Ethan, alright?”   
“Sure.” Ethan took over ladling batter onto the pan; Becky had insisted on  _ teaching _ him how to make pancakes, instead of doing it for him, so he kind of knew what he was doing.   
“Good.” Becky smiled, then turned to the kids. “You two be good. Take care of Ethan.”   
Hannah giggled, and Tim nodded. “We will,” he promised. Then, as soon as Becky was out the door, he grabbed Hannah’s hand and dragged her towards the garden door. “We’re going outside, Ethan.”   
“Aha.” Ethan flipped a pancake. “Don’t get hurt, and stay in the garden.”

“Of course,” Hannah said. “Let us know when the pancakes are ready.”   
“I will.”   
Once the pancakes were done, Ethan set the table for three, and called in the kids. “Go wake up Tom, tell him there’s breakfast.” Then he grabbed a tray, put up a smaller stack of pancakes, two plates, and two glasses of juice, and went to wake up Lex.

He put the tray on the bedside table and kissed her temple. “It’s my day off, let me sleep,” she muttered, pulling the duvet up over her head.

“It’s 11am,” Ethan said, getting into bed next to her and sitting up. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to go far, I brought breakfast here. It’s pancakes.”   
“Alright.” Lex sat up. “Holy shit, these are homemade! Did you make them?”   
He shrugged. “Becky helped, but yeah.” He smiled and kissed her. “I wanted to surprise you.”   
“You did good.” She smiled, then started eating a pancake. “I love you.”   
“I love you too.” Ethan started eating as well.

Sticky syrup kisses and laughs and too many hours just sitting in bed were exactly what he needed that morning and, he realised, probably every day of his life.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave Ethan a middle name apparently?

Summer passed too quickly, and all of a sudden Ethan was in his senior year, and smoke club was reduced to him, Deb, and Danny; Gwen had finally gotten tired and gotten another boyfriend, so while she was still technically a member, they saw her far less. It was alright; Danny still didn’t have a personality, but he was an alright dude, and Deb was still his friend. He just missed Lex, on school days; she was working, so although he usually drove to the mall for lunch and ate with her, he didn’t see her much.

Tom stopped the rule that they had to ask or inform him when Ethan was there; he could show up at any time. “Whether Lex is home or not,” he said, pulling Ethan aside one day after dinner. “Seriously. Just come over. I know you’re not doing well.” He smiled. “I’d honestly offer you to move here, but I don’t think your parents would like that.”   
“Probably not.” Ethan suspected his smile was a little force. “I’d like that, though.” He looked at the door to Lex’s room; she’d gone ahead without him. “I’d like that a lot.”

“Well, think about it.” Tom patted his shoulder. “Go see Lex, she’s gonna come looking for you in a second otherwise.”   
“Right. Thanks Tom.” Ethan smiled, then went to Lex’s room. “Hey babe.”   
“What did Tom want from you?” She smiled when he didn’t immediately answer. “Did he offer to adopt you too?”   
“He’s fostering you, he hasn’t adopted you.” Ethan smiled. “Not really. He kind of halfway offered to let me move here, though.” He sat down next to Lex. “That would be nice.”   
“Would it?” She smiled back and rested her head on his shoulder. “I mean, it would, but I’ve kinda gotten used to having my own room.” Her tone was teasing, and she elbowed him lightly.

“Who says I’d share with you?” He elbowed her back. “Maybe we’ll kick Hannah in here so I can get my own room, did you ever think about that? Or maybe I’d share with Tim?” He laughed and kissed her. “Nah, as nice as it would be, it’s probably not gonna happen. Walter wouldn’t allow it, let alone Audrey.”   
“You’re an adult.” She put a hand on his cheek and kissed him again. “Like, seriously Ethan, you’re 18. If you wanna live here, you can. Just tell your parents to shove it.”

“I know.” He put a hand over hers. “I know, and I want to, I just… Those things have consequences, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” She kissed him. “Come on, let’s not talk any more about it today. But you’re welcome; I will gladly share my room with you.” She smiled.

“That’s good. I love you.”   
“I love you too. Come on, Rob Smith, we have a movie to watch.”   
“We do.”   
They only kind of watched the movie; mostly they made out. Ethan couldn’t stop thinking about moving there, though; sure, he and Lex had known each other for less than a year, and sure, Walter and Audrey would hate it, but… This felt like a family, Tom and the kids, and even Becky, and of course Lex. It felt like a family he wanted to stay with.

Lex’s birthday was on a Saturday, and she had the day off, so Ethan decided to come over Friday night and spend the night there. It was Alice’s weekend in Hatchetfield, so everyone were coming over, but Ethan wanted to be there for breakfast and the family moments.

Audrey was in the living room when he walked past, so he graced her with a, “Bye Audrey, see you Sunday!” as he headed out.

“Where are you going?” Audrey looked over at him.

Ethan shrugged. “Going to see Lex. It’s her birthday tomorrow.”

“Oh, that tramp?” Audrey’s voice was dismissive, and she was walking towards Ethan, who clenched his fist in his pocket and focused on not lashing out. “How old is she now, 22?”   
“18.” Ethan forced a smile. “I know you’ll never agree, but she’s not a tramp. She’s a lovely girl, really, and if you could get over yourself, you might even like her.”   
“She’s a trailer park tramp, a high school dropout.” Audrey had walked all the way over to Ethan. “And I never want you to see her again.”   
“Sure.” Ethan smiled. “I’m going. See you Sunday.” He turned to walk away.

“Ethan Jasper Green, if you walk out that door, I never want to see you again.” Audrey’s voice had risen to almost hysterical tones, which made Ethan hesitate.

“Oh you’re acknowledging Jasper, now?” He walked back to his room and gathered a few more things in a larger backpack. It wasn’t everything he’d want to bring, just stuff he would want to keep around for the next week or so. He was pretty sure he’d either be allowed back, or at least allowed to come collect his things. He walked back out. “Bye Audrey!” he yelled.

“Where are you going?” She stood up and walked over to him again.

“I told you. Lex’s birthday. You just said not to come back, so I figured I’d bring a few more things.” Ethan shrugged. “What, you think I care? I have a place to go.”   
“Ethan! Ethan!” Audrey walked to the door, but Ethan ignored her and walked out anyway.

Tom was the one to open the door when he arrived. “Hey Ethan.”   
“Hey Tom.” Ethan smiled. “Hey uhh, can I talk to you for a sec?”   
“Sure, come on in.” Tom stepped aside and let Ethan in. “”What’s up?”   
“Audrey kicked me out. She’ll probably let me come back by the end of the week, but can I stay here?”   
“Of course!” Tom gave Ethan a hug. “You stay as long as you like, assuming Lex will let you sleep in her room.”

“Thanks Tom.” Ethan smiled and hugged him back. “I don’t think she minds too much.”   
“Me either.”   
Ethan went to Lex’s room and knocked. “Hey babe.” He smiled and put his bag down. “Nice to see you.”   
“You too.” Lex was sitting cross legged on her bed with a book. “How are you doing?”   
“Alright.” Ethan went to sit next to her and give her a kiss. “Well, I’ll be staying here for a while.”   
“Finally moved out?” Lex put a bookmark in her book and put it down on the windowsill. “Am I gonna have to learn to share my room again?”

“For a while.” He laughed. “Audrey kicked me out. She’ll be okay again by the end of the week, probably, but I haven’t quite decided if that means moving back or just going to get more stuff than can fit in a fucking backpack.” He laid down. “We’ll see.”

“I’m sorry they kicked you out, though.” Lex laid down and wrapped her arms around him. “That’s gotta suck.”   
“Yeah.” Ethan sighed. “It kinda does. She was angry enough to call me by my full name, which hasn’t happened since I was 16 and she thought I was doing drugs.”   
“You mean your full name isn’t Ethan Green?” Lex laughed.

“Jasper.” He pulled her into a proper hug. “Ethan Jasper Green.”

“Alexandra Foster.” She kissed him quickly. “But you knew that.”   
“I did.”

They laughed and kissed, and resorted to meaningless smalltalk until Becky knocked on the door and asked them to come out for dinner.


	13. Chapter 13

Ethan got up early in the morning without waking up Lex. He went to make pancakes; without Becky’s help, this time, but with her company. “It’s sweet,” she said.

“What is?” Ethan looked up for a moment.

Becky smiled. “You getting up early to make pancakes. You really care about Lex.”   
“Yeah, I love her.” Ethan poured some batter on the pan. “I guess you could call it sweet. I just wanna do something, it’s her birthday, and well…” He glanced at the door to Lex’s room. “Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure.” Becky had taken a seat at the dining table. “What’s up?”   
“I don’t have a lot of money. I keep telling Lex that I’m saving up, and I’m trying, but… I don’t really have any income, save for when Tom pays me to watch the kids, and it’s nice of him to pay at all, but it’s not a lot of money. So my birthday present for her is gonna be the last thing I spend money on this year, so I’m just trying to do other things so she doesn’t realise.”

Becky shook her head. “Ethan… You really think Lex is gonna be upset that you don’t have money?”   
“She’ll lose respect for me.” Ethan flipped the pancake. “Especially because I lied to her about it. Just, please don’t tell her.”   
“I won’t.” Becky stood up. “You burnt that.”   
“I know, leave me be.” Ethan hip checked her out of the way and laughed.

Once the pancakes were done, Becky went to get Tom and the kids, and Ethan arranged everything on a tray. Once they were all assembled they went to Lex’s room.

She was still asleep. “On three,” Tom whispered. “One, two, three.”   
“Happy birthday!” they yelled, all at once. Lex startled awake.

“Good morning, babe.” Ethan went to sit next to Lex, balancing the tray on his leg. “And happy birthday.”   
“Thanks.” Lex leaned her head on his shoulder. “Hey, did you make these pancakes or did you get Becky to do it again?”

“I made them.”   
“He did,” Becky confirmed. “I did nothing but watch.”

“Nice.” Lex looked at everyone. “Alright, you’ve said what you came to say, now get out so I can get dressed, I’ll come eat breakfast with you. Banana, can you take the tray?”   
“Of course.” Hannah took the tray. “Happy birthday, Lexi.”   
“Thanks kid.” Lex ruffled her hair. “Alright go. Not you, Ethan.” She grabbed his hand as he was getting up. “I need to talk to you.”   
“Sure.” Ethan sat back down. “What’s up?”

“So, I had a thought.” Lex got out of bed and got dressed as she spoke. “Since we’re both 18 now, well… I’d love to move. Live somewhere that isn’t Hatchetfield, you know.” She smiled. “Now that Hannah is here with Tom I’m not so worried about leaving her. I still don’t want to, but… Tom is good to her, and Becky knows what she’s doing, and I think being with Tim is actually really helping. So I figured… Not now, but you know, at some point, maybe you and I could leave? Together?”   
“Go to California?” Ethan smiled. “You’ll be an amazing actress.”   
“Thanks.” She smiled and kissed him. “But yeah. Think about it.”   
“I’d love that.” Ethan held her shoulder to kiss her again. “But let’s wait until I’m done with school, yeah? Save some money.”   
“Of course.” She smiled. “Come on, let’s go eat breakfast.”

Halfway through breakfast, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Tom said and went out. Moments later, he shouted for Lex, who also went out.   
She came in again, followed by a man Ethan would guess to be in his early 40’s, brown hair and eyes, and a soft smile.

Hannah got up and ran over to the guy. “Hey dad.”   
“Hey kid.” The guy — their father, apparently — pulled her into a hug. “I would’ve called, sorry, but it was sort of a last-minute decision to come, couldn’t miss my girl’s 18th.” He smiled at Lex. “Nice to see you.”   
“You too, dad.” She smiled. “Oh, uh, you saw Tom, that’s his son Tim, Tom’s girlfriend Becky, and that’s my boyfriend, Ethan.” She pointed at each in turn. “This is my dad, Bryan.”

“Nice to meet you.” Becky smiled, but didn’t get up.

“Yeah, nice to meet you, Mr. Foster.” Ethan did get up and went to shake hands.

“Please, call me Bryan.” He smiled and shook Ethan’s hand. “Ethan, was it?”   
“Yeah.”

“Do you live here too?” Bryan let Hannah get back to her seat.   
“Kind of.” Ethan smiled. “At the moment. Hey uhh, let me get you a chair, I think there’s enough pancakes.” He went and got another chair for the table, and a plate and such.

“I like him,” he heard Bryan say when he’d left. Lex laughed in reply.

Once everyone were seated again, Bryan looked around the table. “So, I do talk to my girls a little bit, which is why I knew you were here, but I don’t quite know how come they’re living with you?” He looked at Becky.

“Oh, they lived here before I did,” she said. “I’m not the newest person in the house, but I still think Ethan’s been around longer than I have.”   
“I have,” Ethan confirmed, smiling at her. “I just don’t live here.”   
“I’m confused,” Bryan said.

“Right, okay.” Lex looked around. “Well, you know what mom’s like, so after I dropped out of school, I was thinking of moving and taking Hannah with me, but I didn’t have money. And then Tom found out, and since the house is pretty big and he has money, he decided to call CPS and basically get them to put both of us in foster care here, so here we are.” She smiled. “It’s nice, and Tim and Hannah are really good friends.”

“Lots of birthdays, too,” Tom added. “Tim’s is on Tuesday, and Becky’s is next week.”   
“Oh fun.” Bryan looked at Becky, and then at Ethan. “And you two… Just happened?”   
Becky nodded. “Well, I did. Tom and I knew each other in high school, reconnected last year… Eventually I moved in.” Ethan noticed that she left out the bit about how each of them had lost their spouses, but he didn’t really blame her.

“Ethan and I were dating before I moved here,” Lex said. “He’s met mom.”   
“I don’t really live here,” Ethan added. “Well, at least I haven’t. My mother decided to kick me out of the house yesterday, so I’m here for now, but I’m pretty sure she’ll ask me to come back soon enough. If not, I’m staying.” He shrugged. “It’s a nice place.”   
“It is.” Bryan nodded.

“Uhh, dad, I’m glad you’re here and stuff, but… Why?” Lex raised an eyebrow. “I mean, you live in fucking Utah, why are you in Hatchetfield?” She took Ethan’s hand under the table.

“Yeah…” Bryan shifted in his seat. “I uhh, I might be moving back here.”   
“Oh?” Lex squeezed Ethan’s hand tighter, so he brushed a thumb over her hand, trying to calm her. “Like, permanently?”   
“Yeah. It won’t be for a few months, but I’m… I’m here for a job interview.”

Lex stared at Ethan for several seconds. “Uh, Bryan?” Ethan asked. “I think… What Lex means is, would you want her and Hannah to come live with you, then?”

Bryan sighed. “I would, but I also understand if you want to stay here.” He looked over at Hannah. “Lex just said you were in foster care, so I assumed that you’d want to come live with me, but… This looks like a good family.”   
“I wanna stay with Tom,” Hannah said.

“That’s good.” Bryan sent her a smile; Ethan could see how sad it was. “But you’ll come visit me, right?”   
Hannah nodded and smiled a little bit.

“You’re also welcome here, Bryan.” Tom nodded. “And if Lex wants to stay with you instead, that’s totally fine. Ethan could get his own room, this is a four-bedroom house, so they’re sharing at the moment.”   
That made Bryan raise an eyebrow. “You’re letting teens share a room? What if—”   
“They’re both 18 and they’re smart kids,” Tom interrupted. “And having separate bedrooms isn’t gonna stop them having sex.”

Lex nodded, but laughed a little. “I wanna stay here too, though, for now. Ethan and I are talking about moving away when he finishes school, but for now, I wanna stay here.” She looked at Bryan. “But it’ll be nice to have you around more.”

The conversation dissolved after that, becoming more casual. After breakfast, everyone gave Lex presents; a nice necklace from Bryan, new sports shoes from Tom and Becky, a piece of quartz on a keychain from Tim and Hannah. Ethan gave her a card.  _ real present later. _ She smiled at that, but lied to her family and said it was a custom gift card for a date.


	14. Chapter 14

Bryan left after lunch, and the family gathering scattered. “Okay,” Lex said once she’d closed the door to her room. She turned to look at Ethan. “I’m curious, what’s the real present?”

“Right.” Ethan went to his backpack and grabbed the box. “Close your eyes.” He placed the box in Lex’s hands and sat on the bed. “Okay, open.”   
Lex opened her eyes and looked at the box in her hands. “This is a jewellery box,” she said.

Ethan nodded. “Open it.”   
She did. Looked at it for a moment. “This looks expensive.” She took out the ring that was in the box. “Seriously, babe, you’re broke as shit, did you steal this?”

He laughed. “Babe, I know I’m a shitty person, but I’m not shitty enough to steal a present for my girlfriend. I told you, I’ve been saving.”   
Lex put the ring on. “Well, it’s pretty. Thank you.” She smiled and went to kiss him. “I really like it.”   
“I’m glad.” He pulled her into a hug. “I didn’t know what to get you, it’s hard. But you know, I figured…”   
“That a ring wouldn’t hurt?” She laughed.

“Pretty much.” He kissed her temple. “I love you.”   
“I love you too.” Lex held out her hand to look at the ring. “But okay seriously, how much did this cost?”   
“Don’t you know it’s bad manners to ask how much a present cost?” Ethan laughed. “It was expensive, and I may have lied to Audrey to get her to give me money, but that’s still not stealing, so it counts.”   
“What did you tell her?”   
“That the car needed repairs. She paid more than half of it that way, so.” He shrugged and kissed her. “It’s all good.”

Lex raised an eyebrow. “Aha.” She kissed him on the nose. “So you didn’t sink hundreds of dollars into what looks like an engagement ring just to give it to me for my birthday?”

“Oh, I absolutely did.” Ethan smiled, but he didn’t quite meet her eyes. “I couldn’t decide if I hoped you noticed it was an engagement ring or not.”   
She looked at it for a few moments, then at him. “Is ‘not yet’ a good answer?”

“I’m not asking. Come on babe, we’re 18.” Ethan laughed. “It’s just a birthday present, and in a few years, when we’re in California, I might steal it back for a day or two so that I can ask properly.” He reached his hands out.

Lex took them. “I knew you were cheap. Just saving money for the future.” She laughed and leaned down to kiss him. “Come on, Alice and Deb can be here any minute, and Tom wants us to set the table before they arrive.”   
“Sure.”   
They set the table together, chatting. Lex showed the ring off to Becky, exaggeratingly acting like young women in romcoms who had just gotten engaged, and Ethan laughed and rolled his eyes, but he also couldn’t quite stop smiling.

The week after Lex’s birthday, Deb asked Ethan to go somewhere for lunch. He shrugged, and they drove to the park, stopping at the shitty Chinese place along the way to get takeout. “What’s up?” he asked once they were parked and sharing a box. “Why’d you need to get away all of a sudden.”

“You know Gwen’s boyfriend, right? The tall obnoxious one?”

“Yeah.” Ethan nodded. “Can’t recall his name, but I know who you’re talking about.”   
“Yeah.” Deb paused to eat a bite. “Well, apparently he’s decided that I’m bad for Gwen, whatever that means. I barely talk to her anymore since they started dating, you know she’s never around. When was the last time you talked to her?”   
“I don’t know.” Ethan shrugged and grabbed the box from Deb. “A month ago? I mean, we say hi when we pass in the hallway, but I definitely haven’t talked to her much.”   
“Exactly.” Deb pointed at him, then gestured for him to hand them the box, which he did. “I mean, come on, what the hell does that mean, if anything  _ he’s _ bad for her. Anyway, he cornered me yesterday and started yelling at me and stuff, and—”   
“Do you want me to knock his lights out?” Ethan interrupted. “Because I will, you know that.”   
“Yeah, I know.” They sighed. “I just… I don’t know. I miss Alice.”   
“I get it.” He smiled. “But hey, tomorrow’s Friday. We’re leaving directly after school, it fits with me picking up Lex from work on my way home from Clyvesdale.”   
“Yeah.” Deb smiled a little. “By the way, how are things with you and Lex? I hear you live together now.”

“Kind of.” Ethan took another bite of the food and handed the box back to Deb. “I mean, I’m just waiting for Audrey to call and beg me to come home. I don’t think I’ll stay where I am, even if I like being there.”   
“Why not?”   
“I don’t know. ‘Cause we’re 18 and have been dating for less than a year, living together seems like a lot.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I want to.”   
“Then stay.” Deb handed him the food. “I mean, weren’t you the one who bought her an engagement ring?”   
“It’s not an engagement ring,” Ethan argued. “It’s just a birthday present.” He took a bite of the food. “I don’t wanna marry her, it’s just pretty and I wanted to give her something nice.”   
“Aha.” Deb grabbed the box of food from him. “Mind if I kill this?” Ethan gestured for her to go ahead, so she took a bite. “Anyway, sure you don’t. It’s not like you’re head-over-heels in love with her or anything.”   
“I didn't say that, I know. I love her, but she’s my girlfriend. You love Alice too.”

“Of course I do.” Deb emptied the box. “And I’m willing to admit that I wanna marry her someday and spend my life with her, because she’s my girlfriend and I want to be with her forever.”   
“I didn’t— You’re hopeless.” Ethan smiled. “I didn’t mean that I  _ don’t _ wanna spend my life with her or anything, it’s just… It’s not a concern. Yet. And I told her that, so don’t tell me that I’m being a coward.”   
“Alright.” Deb leaned back in their seat. “Get the car into gear, we’re gonna be late for English.”

“Sure.” Ethan started the car. “Hey, if Gwen’s boy gives you trouble again, just let me know, alright?”   
“Sure. Thanks Ethan.”

“Anytime.” He pulled up in front of the school. “Let’s see what Mrs. Allen has for us today.”


	15. Chapter 15

To Ethan's surprise, Audrey and Walter didn't let him move back in, but they did let him come by that Saturday to pick up his stuff.

Tom went with him, both to help carry things, and to be a buffer. He greeted Walter and Audrey as coolly as Ethan had ever seen him, and it made him feel a little better.

"Hey, you okay?" Tom asked once they were alone in Ethan's room, going through his things.

"Yeah, yeah, I just… I really thought they'd let me come back." He shook his head. "No, that's not strictly true, I thought they'd  _ make _ me come back. It's weird that they're just kicking me out, no further explanation. And for what? Because they don't like my girlfriend? I mean, come on."

"We'll figure it out." Tom smiled. "I hope you know I'm not just doing this for Lex's sake, right? I care about you, kid. Whatever happens between you and Lex is none of my business, but you can always ask me for help."

"Thanks." Ethan smiled. "God, I don't know what to bring. I don't even know what's mine."

"Let's start in one corner." Tom walked over to the closet. "Do you wanna sort your clothes or are you okay to just dump them into a bag?"

Some two hours later, they'd assembled all of Ethan's things, mostly in large plastic bags. Ethan said his goodbyes to Audrey and Walter — possibly burning a few bridges along the way, but he didn't care — and then went with Tom to the car.

Putting his things away in Lex's room felt weird to Ethan, but not in a bad way; just in a serious way. It was serious. Lex helped him, but also just watched him, singing along to the radio — she had a lovely voice, Ethan thought, even with the smoke lungs — and making comments on some of his shirts.

Tom took all of them — himself and Becky and Lex and Hannah and Tim and Ethan — out to a restaurant for dinner that night. "Tradition," he said. "New person in the house."

Ethan didn't quite hide his tears at that.

So that became his life. Living with Lex and her family, in Tom's house, still driving Deb to Clyvesdale every weekend, still babysitting a lot, but no longer getting paid. He didn't mind; he had even less money for himself, but Tom took over paying out his car — "not gas, but you need a decent insurance with that old thing" — and Ethan was happy there.

He finished high school, which in itself was an achievement. Audrey was at the ceremony, but she didn't seek him out, and Ethan didn't bother going to talk to her; he'd invited Tom and Becky in lieu of parents, and he was fine not talking to Audrey. A year later, he and Lex packed their lives into his car, said goodbye to their family, and drove West.

California was Lex's dream, not Ethan's, but she was his, and she was happier there than ever before, so Ethan was too.


End file.
